Automated pleater for draperies

ABSTRACT

A pleating apparatus for automatically producing successive pleats along a length of drapery or curtain material at regular predetermined spacings, including a pleat forming device positioned at a first station for folding a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the material with a minimum stressing thereof, and a pleat securing device such as a sewing machine positioned at a second station to secure the formed pleats together into a permanent pinch pleat, and including an advancing mechanism to automatically move the formed pleats from the first station or forming area a predetermined distance to the second station or sewing area and thereby regularly space successively formed pinch pleats along the material. The pleat forming device gathers the material ahead of the device to form the pleat so that the material in and beyond the device is not stressed and the spacing between pleats can be adjusted by varying the space between the first and second stations.

' United States Patent 1 1 Ryan July 23, 1974 AUTOMATED PLEATER FOR DRAPERIES Primary Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin [75] Inventor :i Bums Ryan Northbmok Attorney, Agent, or FirmHill, Gross, Simpson, Van

, Santen, Steadman, Chiara & Simpson [73] Assignees: Edward J. Ryan; Patricia K. Ryan,

7 bOth Of Glenview, Ill. 57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Mar. 29, 1973 A pleating apparatus for automatically producing successive pleats along a length of drapery or curtain ma- [21] Appl terial at regular predetermined spacings, including a pleat forming device positioned at a first station for [52] US. Cl. 223/30, 112/134 folding a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the material [51] Int. Cl A4lh 43/00 with a minimum stressing thereof, and a pleat securing [58] Field of Search 112/144, 145,136, 134; device such as a sewing machine positioned at a sec- 223/28-35 ond station to secure the formed pleats together into a permanent pinch pleat, and including an advancing [56] References Cited mechanism to automatically move the formed pleats NI S S PATENTS n from the first station or forming area a predetermined 2,708,059. 5/1955 Petzal Ct al. 223/28 x distance the e 9 sewing area 3,010,621 11/1961 Bonarrigo 223/31 2 thereby regularly P F successvely formed Q 3110,42? 11/1963 Doercretal. 223/32 Pleatsalcng the mateflal- The P1eat formmg devlce 3,190,512 6/1965 Nathansonm'u' 223/30 ga the e i a e of the e i to form the 3,331,345 7/1967 Firestein at 131...... 112/134 pleat so that the material in-and beyond the device is 3,473,706 10/1969 Stahl 223/31 not stressed and the spacing between pleats can be ad- 3,483301 12/1969 Kupcikevicius- 223/3l X justedlby varying the space between the first and sec- 3,547,3l9 12/1970 Ketchum 223/28 0nd Stations 3,661,103 5/1972 Firestein et al.. 112/134 3,760,746 9 1973 Portilla 112 134 23 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJULZBIGH ximanrs HIE N E Mi. m WEEK LL W U PATENIEU JULZ 31914 saw u (If 5 PATENTEDJUL23I974 I 4 3824.954 SHEET 5 [IF 5 AUTOMATED PLEATER FOR DRAPERIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Until the present invention, production of pleated draperies has required experienced, skilled operators with dexterity to grasp and move the material from place to plate to produce a quality pleated drapery panel, especially of the pinch pleat type.

I A pinch pleated drapery generally includes a plurality of uniformly spaced apart pinch pleats, usually comprising three grouped folds sewed into permanent position for a short distance in the upper support edge or heading of the drape, allowing the folds to radiate downward from the heading to merge into softer, less sharply defined pleats therebelow.

Even with the most advanced methods heretofore employed, using semi-automated pleater machines, the machine operators are required to handle each pleat individually and variations in the drapery are likely to occur from time to time, resulting in non-uniform spacing of pleats, waste of drapery material and loss of production time, Further, prior known pleaters unduly strain the drapery materials, causing stretching anddeformation of the fabric. These prior pleaters force drapery fabric into a slot or other confined area by an interposing blade element or the like. Because of considerable angular directional changes experienced by the fabric during this method of forming, much stress is placed on the drapery material. To obviate this, some pleat forming devices work only with buckram which is pre-formed and then enclosed by sewing into the drapery heading whereupon the pre-formed buckram will impart a sufficient shaping to the drapery material for the machine operator to manually fold the pleats in the material as previously. shaped in the buckram. Some of the decorator fabrics currently used are so delicate that mechanical pleating with prior forming devices is virtually impossible.

The present invention is directed to a pleating apparatus for automatically producing uniform and regularly spaced apart pinch pleats along a length of drapery material or the like, including many of the delicate fabrics heretofore excluded from automated manufacture. The apparatus includes a pleat forming device positioned at a f rst station to form one leg of a pleat at a time by pleat forming blades to fold the material into the desired pleating configuration while drawing material into the pleat from a upstream direction, from which point the material is freely slidable along a work surface and relatively unrestricted in its movements. Thus the material is wrapped or folded around the forming blade elements without stressing.

The apparatus further includes an advancing means arranged to clamp the pleats together as formed at the first station and move them tothe second station in a ready-to-sew orientation to accommodate a sewing machine, positioned at the second station, to permanently stitch the formed pleats in place. Further, while a first pinch pleat is being sewed into the drapery at the first station, a second pleat is being formed at the second station to thereby greatly increase productivity over prior machines, in which the operator is required to manually move the pleat from the forming device to position it below the sewing machine needle.

The spacing of the first station relative to the second station is readily adjustable whereby advancing of the 2 formed pinch pleats from the first station to said second station automatically and uniformly spaces the pinch pleats along the length of the drapery material.

By utilizing my invention pleating machine operators with limited experience and abilities may produce high quality, uniformly pleated draperies. They are required merely to place the leading edge of an unpleated panel at an indicated starting point and assist the movement of the panel material along the work surface against the guide stop. Both hands of the operator are free to help progress the material along the work surface, keeping it free from wrinkles and twists. Even the drapery portion into which the pleats have been sewn moves out of the way with little or no assistance from the operator.

It is, accordingly, a principal object of my invention to provide an automatic drapery pleater which will au tomatically produce uniformly spaced pleats along the length of the drapery panel.

Another object of this invention is to provide an automatic drapery pleater which can be effectively operated much faster by less skillful machine operators than prior machines would permit.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an automatic drapery pleater in which the pleat forming means does not unduly strain the drapery fabric.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic drapery pleater constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the sewing machine L tacking a pleat;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pleater shown in FIG. 1 and showing the pleat advancing means moved to the sewing area;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line III-III of FIG. 2 illustrating the cam driven pleat forming means;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line IVIV of FIG. 3, illustrating the sequenced actuation of the pleater blades of pleat forming means;

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are diagrammatic views of the pleat forming means of FIG. 4 and showing progressive steps in the forming of a pinch pleat in drapery material;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line VIIIVIII of FIG. 3 but illustrating the pleat as fully formed and the pleat advancing means clamping the pleat folds together immediately prior to retraction of the pleater blades and moving the formed pinch pleat to the sewing area;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line IX--IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken generally along line X-X of FIG. 2 showing the pleat advancing means having moved the formed pleat to the sewing area;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the Xl-Xl of FIG. 2 and showing the presser foot about to release the advancing means clamps;

pleats 22, formed in meansl2 at the first station 14, to the second station DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings illustrate an automated pleater for draperies and the like, comprising an automaticpleat forming means 12 adjustably positioned at a first station or forming area 14 and a sewing means 16 located ata second station or sewing area 18 with an automatic pleat advancing means 20 cyclically arranged to move back and forth between the first and second stations 14 and 18 to successively move pinch drapery material 24 by forming 18 for permanently sewing the pleats 22 into the material 24 bythe sewing means 16. The sewing means 16 preferably comprises a sewing machine 26 driven by a cally follow a complete sewing cycle in sequential relationship to the movements of advancing means 20 by suitable control means (not shown).

As best seen in FIG. 1, the sewing machine 26 is of a type programmed to perform an L tack stitching patternto secure the pleats 22 in the drapery material 24.. Machines of this type are well known in the industry and the mechanism to provide the L tack as well as other suitable stitching patterns, is also well known to those skilled in the art and is not part of the present invention, so is not herein shown or described further. While the machine 26 is automatically stitching the pleat 22 into the drapery material 24, automatic pleat forming means 12 is folding a subsequent pleat 22 into the material with the pleat advancing means 20 in a stand-by position at the first station 14, ready to move the pleat 22, when formed, to the sewing area second station 18.

A machine operator will normally be seated facing the pleater 10, between the first and second stations 14 v and 18 at the upper left of FIG. 1 and is required primarily only to pre-set the apparatus to required specifications as to pleat take-up, pleat spacing (B of FIG. 14) and distance of the first and last pleats from the side edges of the panel to provide the proper returns (A of FIG. 14) and place a drapery panel at a predetermined starting point; push a starting switch (not shown) and thereafter aid in the movement of the drapery'panel 25,

along a work surface 28 of a frame 30 of the pleater 10. This the operator does by keeping the material flat, free of wrinkles and twists with the top edge of the panel 25 laterally guided along a stop guide 34 into the'first station 14.

After the side hems and bottom hem have been made, the drapery panel 25 is prepared for forming pleats therein by enclosing the usual buckram or stiffening material 36 by folding the drapery material 24 thereabout, and sewing it together to form a heading 32, as best seen in FIG. 14. With the panel 25 thus direct drive means 27. and programmed to 'automatiplaced in the pleat forming the top edge of the heading 32 in guiding contact with the stop guide 34 and with a leading edge 38 of the panel 25 extending to a starting point indicator 40 carried on stop guide 34 to locate the position of the first pleat to be formed by the pleat fonning means 12. Thereafter subsequently formed pleats will be evenly spaced apart automatically.

Now with particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the automatic pleat forming means 12 comprises a frame 42 longitudinally adjustable along the sliding surfaces 44 and 45 of frame 30 and having an upper support closure 46 and a lower support closure 48 and including a work surface 50 forming an extension of the work surface 28 of frame 30. Each of the work surfaces 28 and 50 has a portion of the upstanding stop guide 34 affixed thereto to provide an abutment means along which surface the top edge of the drapery heading 32 is guided. Thus it may be seen that the work surfaces 28 and 50 and the stop guide 34 provide nonrestrictive surfaces along which the material is advanced. The machine operator has only to keep the top edge of the heading 32 in aligned and abutting relationship with face of the stop guide portion 34 of the work surface 28 while the advancing means 20 progresses the drapery material through the pleat forming means 12 along the stop guide 34 affixed to the work surface 50 (as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3). A'plurality of pleat forming members 52 are guided for reciprocating movement in a guide block 54 mounted in the upper support closure 46 as best seen in FIG. 4, and are reciprocally driven ready to be pleated, it is area 14 (first station) with vin timed sequence by cam means 56 mounted on a drive shaft 58 and driven by suitable gearing 60 deriving its power from a power source 62. Power source 62 also drives a plurality of lower pleat forming members 64 mounted in an adjusting frame 66 of the lower support closure 48, in a like manner with the forming members 52, by suitable gearing 68 and a cam means 70.

The drive to the bottom pleat forming members 64, through a slidable splined connection between a gear 72 and a propeller shaft 74 of the gearing 68, permits vertical adjustment of the frame 66 for a purpose which will later be explained. Adjustment frame 66 is slidably received in the lower support closure 48 and is moved up and down with the aid of a threaded adjusting screw 76, having a handle 78 at one end thereof to rotate the screw 76 relative to a threaded bracket 80 secured to of the adjusting screw 76, couples the adjusting movements of screw 76, by means of a roller chain 84 with other similar adjusting devices 86 to maintain the lower adjusting frame 66 with its pleat forming members 64 level and true with respect to said upper pleat forming members 52.

A pleater blade 90 comprising one of the pleat forming members 52 is carried by a support plate 92 which is guided for reciprocatory movement in a guide 94 of a guide block 54 with a cam follower 96 carried at an upper end thereof. The cam follower 96 drivably engages a complementary cam track groove 98 formed in a cam member 88 of the cam means 56 to reciprocatively move the pleater blade 90 up and down between its extended and retracted positions. Pleater blades 100, 101 and 102 are similarly activated by related cam members 104, 105 and 106 respectively, wherein each cam member is arranged to sequentially control the degree and duration of its related blades extension in accordance with individual cam groove contours in the various cam members.

The lower pleat forming members 64 include pleater blades 108, 109 and 110 which are driven and controlled in a manner similar to the upper pleater blades 90, 100, 101 and 102, by the cam means 70 and which are arranged to operably cooperate with the upper pleat forming members 52 to form a three fold pinch pleat as will now be described.

Withthe buckram reinforced heading 32 of drapery panel supported on the work surface 50, in position for forming a first pleat therein, cam member 88 is driven through gearing by the power source 62 to move the pleater blade 90 downward to clamp the heading 32 against the work surface 50 along the length of the blade 90, as best seen in FIG. 4. The lower blade 108 is thereupon activated by the cam means to upwardly extend through an aperture 112 of the work surface 50 to fold a first leg 114 of a first pleat 118 upwardly, interposed between the facing sides of blade and 108 with the drapery material drawn from the upstream direction at which point it is freely slidable along the work surfaces 28 and 50 as shown in FIG. 5. The blade is then caused to move downward to the position as shown in FIG. 6 to fold the second leg 116 downward, parallel to the first leg 114, around the top of the blade 108 to complete the formation of the first pleat 118. A second and third pleat 119 and 'are similarly formed by the interaction of blades 100, 101 and 102 with blades 109 and 110. The blade 102, like the blade 90, clamps the drapery heading 32 to the work surface 50 to complete the formation of a pinch pleat 22 comprising the three juxtaposed pleats 118, 119. and 120m the drapery heading 32. Preferably pleater blades 90 and 102 permit a slight movement relative to their respective support plates 92, 92 to compensate for variations in drapery material thickness.

As previously described, lower pleat forming members 64 are adjustable vertically whereby pleat legs 114 and 116 can be varied in length. Further, part changes forming members 52 and 64 are thereupon retracted into their respective guide blocks 54 and the formed pinch pleat 22 is advanced to the second station sewing area 18 and placed therein in a ready-to-sew position by the automatic advancing means 20 as shown in FIG. 10.

Automatic advancing means 20 comprises a bifurcated supporting bracket 144 pivotally carried by an advancing arm 146 which is movable along a track 148 mounted to the frame 30, by a reciprocating rod 150. Furcations 152 and 153 of supporting bracket 144 each carry one of said clamp means 136 whereby gripping fingers 142, 142 are pivotally opened and closed about pivot shaft projections 154 formed thereon and journalled in said furcations.

A reciprocating rod is driven by means (not shown) in sequenced and timed relationship with the other functions of the automated pleater 10.

Now with specific reference to FIG. 10, the automatic pleat advancing means 20 progresses the formed pinch pleat 22 from the dotted line position in the forming area 14 to the solid line position in the sewing area 18 during which advancing movement the pleat 22 is rotated 90 from its upright forming position, and placed in a flat ready-to-sew position on a support surface 156 of said second station 18, extending between the spaced clamp means 136, 136 as best seen in FIG. 2. Supporting bracket 144 provides the 90 rotation of 'the pleat 22 in a manner which will now be described.

As best seen in FIG. 13, the supporting bracket 144 moves from the dotted line position in the forming area 14 at the left, carrying along therewith the formed pleat 22 in an upright position, to a second dotted line posican be made to increase the downward travel of blades 100 and 101 to vary only the dimension of pleat leg 116. These changesand adjustments govern the fullness of a drapery pleatj Commensurate with the downward movement of blade 102, appendages 124, 124 of its support plate 92 makes contact with a pair of spaced arms 126, 126. Each arm 126, being pivotally mounted on a pin 128 supported in spaced legs 130, 130, secured to support closure 46, is moved downward by an appendage 124 against the bias of a spring 132 to activate a toggle linkage mechanism 134 of a'related clamp means 136 of the automatic advancing means 20. Advancing means 20 carries a pair of spaced clamp means 136, 136 positioned at opposite sides of the guide block 54 to secure the pleats when formed to accommodate retraction of the pleater blades from the pleats preparatory to advancing the pinch pleat 22 from the first station 14 to the second station 18. Each clamp means 136 is closed and locked by conventional over-center travel of toggle link arms 138 and 140 of the mechanism 134.

Upon closing of the clamp means 136, 136, gripping fingers 142, 142 thereof pinch the pleat folds at opposite edges of the buckram reinforced heading 32, as best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Upper and lower pleat tion just short of the ready-to-sew position. At this pointin movement of the supporting bracket 144, a pivot arm 152a extending from furcation 152 comes into contact with a stop member 155 which is aligned therewith and fixed to support surface 156, to pivotally rotate supporting bracket 144 against the bias of a spring 158 and about the axis of the pin 157 to the solid line position in which the pleat 22 is placed in the ready-to-sew position.

Because material fabrics are not consistent in width, particularly in multiple width panels and whereas uniform spacings between pleats 22 are essential to quality as well as equal spacing of the first and last pleat to the side edges (returns) of the drapery panel 25, a small pre-set adjustment applicable to each pleat spacing will generally compensate for material width irregularities.

Accordingly, in order that the spacing between adjacent pinch pleats 22 be rnade adjustable (see FIGS. 10 and 14), the entire pleat fonning means 12 is shiftable along slide surfaces 44 and 45 of the frame 30 to vary the dimension B. A'screw adjusting means 158 is provided for this purpose. Further, the reciprocating travel of rod 150 will likewise required adjustment (by means not shown) to compensate for the increase or decrease movement required by the automatic pleat advancing means 20. A turnbuckle adjustment 160 is also provided for the rod 150 as a fine adjustment therefor. The dimension A may also be adjusted by changing the setting of the starting point indicator 40, however, generally dimension A will remain constant.

With the drapery panel 25 now in position to sew the pinch pleat 22 therein, a presser foot 162, extending between furcations 152 and 153 of the supporting sition as seen in FIGS. 2 and 10, and ready for bracket 144 is automatically activated by a suitable means such as a fluid cylinder 164 to clamp the formed pleat 22 against the support surface 156 of the sewing area 18. As best seen in FIG. 11, when presser foot 162 descends from the extended dotted line position to the solidline position, a camming member 166 on each side of the presser foot 162 contacts a complementary camrning projection, 168 on each of the toggle-link arms 138, 138 to cam the toggle-link mechanism 134 back over-center in an opposite direction, whereupon springs 170, 170 connected between toggle-link arms 138 and 140 will snap open each of the clamp means 136 to release gripping fingers 142, 142 from their hold on the drapery pleat 22 to accommodate the return of the advancing means 20 to the forming area 14 in readiness for advancing the next formed pleat 22. Immediately after the advancing means 20 returns to its stand-by position in the forming area, the formation of the next pleat 22 is begun.

Immediately after the advancing means 20 clears the sewing area 18, the sewing machine 26, being at standby position between sewing cycles, is automatically activated to sew an L shaped stitching pattern as defined by the needle slot 172, formed in the support surface 156, to secure the pinch pleat 22 in the panel 25. When the sewing machine reaching the top edge of the heading 32 its sewing direction is automatically reversed and a second L shaped pattern of stitching is sewn following the original stitching. After finishing the sewing cycle, the machine 26 is back at its stand-by pothe next pleat 22. Furtherfat this point, presser foot 162 releases its hold on the sewn pleat, allowing it to slide backalong the support surface 156 and down into an opening 174 between the first and second stations 14 and 18 where it will not interfere with subsequent sewing operations.

The movements of automatic pleat advancing means 20 is synchronized to transfer each of the pinch pleats 22 from the forming area 14 to the sewing area 18 during the retracted cycle of pleat forming members 52 and 64 and of the sewing means 16 with suitable interlocks provided (not shown) to shut down the entire automatedpleater 10, should one of the sequenced movements of the pleater jam or otherwise malfunction as so to interfere with following the phases of operation.

Since pleat forming and sewing operations generally overlap, the pleater is programmed and controlled to form a first plurality of pleats without the sewing means being activated and arranged to sew the last pleat with the pleater means deactivated.

Obvious other methods of securing the pleats in the panel are within the scope of this invention, as for example the use of fabric adhesives, thermal bonds and mechanical fasteners or the like.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a fully automated pleater is provided for draperies and the like tosuccessively pleat a length of drapery material at uniformly spaced intervals without the hand operations heretofore required, especially operations involving manually transferring the formed pleat from the pleat forming means to the sewing means. Further the present invention forms the plurality of juxtaposed pleats in a new and novel manner in which the drapery material is not unduly stressed.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for automatically pleating draperies and the like which comprises a first station including a pleater for successively forming pleats in a length of drapery material at spaced intervals, a second station spaced from the first station including a securing means for securing the pleats in the drapery material, and means for automatically transferring the pleats from the first to the second station, wherein the said means for automatically transferring the pleats from the first to the second station includes means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals along the length of said drapery material.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals is adjustable to accommodate various drapery materials.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the said pleater includes a plurality of pleat forming members to successively form individual legs of the pleats whereby the drapery material is not subjected to stress.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the means for automatically transferring the pleats includes a gripping means to take hold of the pleats when formed by the forming members, for movement therewith and having means to place the pleats in a sewable position in the second station.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said securing means comprises a sewing means which is programmed to sew a line of stitching to secure each of the pleats formed in the drapery material and placed in said sewable position in the second station by said means for automatically transferring the pleats.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein a presser foot clamps the pleats in the second station for sewing to accommodate release of said gripping means and the return to said first station of said means for automatically transferring the pleats.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the plurality of pleat forming members include upper and lower members which are operably interposed to form said pleats consisting of a plurality of juxtaposed pleats, and wherein said upper and lower members are activated individually in sequenced relationship, relative to one another by a drive means.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the drive means 'comprises'a separate cam drive means for the upper 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the said gripping means is clamped onto the pleats commensurate with the activation of the last to be activated of the said plurality of pleat forming members.

1 1. A pleat forming apparatus for forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in a drapery material comprising: a frame; a plurality of spaced upper pleat forming members carried by said frame; a plurality of lower pleat forming members carried by said frame and operably interposed between said upper forming members; sequentially timed driving means for said upper and lower forming members to successively fold individual legs of each pleat in the drapery material whereby material drawn into the pleat is unstressed.-

12. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 11 wherein the said driving means is operably coupled to said members is adjustable to regulate the length of drapery material included in the pleats.

15. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 14 wherein said driving means includes a separate cam drive means for the upper and the lower pleat forming members which are driven by a common power source through synchronizing gearing to alternately activate each of said upper and lower pleat forming members.

16. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of said cam drive means includes a plurality of cam members with one cam operably connected to each of the plurality of upper and lower pleat forming members.

17. An apparatus for automatically securing a series of regularly spaced pinch pleats along the length of a drapery panel comprising: means for forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the panel at a forming area; clamping means to hold the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats together as formed; advancing means to move the formed plurality of pleats from said forming I area to a securing area including means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals along the length of said drapery panel; a securing means arranged to permanently secure the plurality of juxtaposed pleats, which comprises a pinch pleat, in the drapery panel; and means to recycle the said apparatus for the formation and securing of subsequent pinch pleats in the drapery panel.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the securing 10 means comprises a sewing machine.

19. A method for automatically securing a series of regularly spaced pleats along the length of a drapery panel comprising the steps of: forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the drapery panel at a forming area; clamping the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats together as formed; automatically advancing the pleats a predetermined distance from the forming area to a securing area; retaining the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats in said securing area; securing the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the drapery panel and repeating the previous steps along the length of the drapery panel.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein automatically advancing the pleats from the forming area to the securing area provides the regular spacing between the adjacent pluralities of juxtaposed pleats.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein securing the pleats in the drapery panel is accomplished by sewing.

22. A method of forming a pinch pleat in drapery material comprising the steps of: clamping the drapery material to a working surface, folding a first leg of a first pleat upward adjacent the clamping location while drawing material into the pleat from a direction remote from said clamping location, folding a second leg of the first pleat downward along said first leg while also drawing material into the pleat from a direction remote from said clamping location, and folding additional legs of additional pleats in a like manner.

23. An apparatus for automatically forming and securing pleats in drapery panels which comprises an adjustable pleat former operative to take up selected widths of material in a drapery panel, a pleat securing means spaced from the pleat former, mechanism for automatically transferring the pleated portion of the drapery panel to the securing means, and means for pre-setting the apparatus to control the distance of the first and last pleats from the side edges of the drapery panel, the fullness of the pleats, and the spacings between the pleats. 

1. Apparatus for automatically pleating draperies and the like which comprises a first station including a pleater for successively forming pleats in a length of drapery material at spaced intervals, a second station spaced from the first station including a securing means for securing the pleats in the drapery material, and means for automatically transferring the pleats from the first to the second station, wherein the said means for automatically transferring the pleats from the first to the second station includes means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals along the length of said drapery material.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals is adjustable to accommodate various drapery materials.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the said pleater includes a plurality of pleat forming members to successively form individual legs of the pleats whereby the drapery material is not subjected to stress.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the means for automatically transferring the pleats includes a gripping means to take hold of the pleats when formed by the forming members, for movement therewith and having means to place the pleats in a sewable position in the second station.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said securing means comprises a sewing means which is programmed to sew a line of stitching to secure each of the pleats formed in the drapery material and placed in said sewable position in the second station by said means for automatically transferring the pleats.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein a presser foot clamps the pleats in the second station for sewing to accommodate release of said gripping means and the return to said first station of said means for automatically transferring the pleats.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the plurality of pleat forming members include upper and lower members which are operably interposed to form said pleats consisting of a plurality of juxtaposed pleats, and wherein said upper and lower members are activated individually in sequenced relationship, relative to one another by a drive means.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the drive means comprises a separate cam drive means for the upper and lower pleat forming members interconnected by synchronizing gearing which is driven by a power source.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the upper and lower pleat forming members are adjustable relative to one another whereby the pleat fullness may be regulateD.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the said gripping means is clamped onto the pleats commensurate with the activation of the last to be activated of the said plurality of pleat forming members.
 11. A pleat forming apparatus for forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in a drapery material comprising: a frame; a plurality of spaced upper pleat forming members carried by said frame; a plurality of lower pleat forming members carried by said frame and operably interposed between said upper forming members; sequentially timed driving means for said upper and lower forming members to successively fold individual legs of each pleat in the drapery material whereby material drawn into the pleat is unstressed.
 12. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 11 wherein the said driving means is operably coupled to said upper and lower pleat forming members to alternately activate said members in an interdigitating relationship to thereby form said individual pleat legs while continually adding material to form the pleats, from an unrestricted upstream direction.
 13. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 12 wherein said frame includes a work surface having a stop guide means to slidably support and guide the drapery material therealong from said upstream direction into the formation of said pleats.
 14. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 13 wherein the interdigitation between upper and lower forming members is adjustable to regulate the length of drapery material included in the pleats.
 15. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 14 wherein said driving means includes a separate cam drive means for the upper and the lower pleat forming members which are driven by a common power source through synchronizing gearing to alternately activate each of said upper and lower pleat forming members.
 16. The pleat forming apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of said cam drive means includes a plurality of cam members with one cam operably connected to each of the plurality of upper and lower pleat forming members.
 17. An apparatus for automatically securing a series of regularly spaced pinch pleats along the length of a drapery panel comprising: means for forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the panel at a forming area; clamping means to hold the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats together as formed; advancing means to move the formed plurality of pleats from said forming area to a securing area including means to automatically space the pleats at uniform intervals along the length of said drapery panel; a securing means arranged to permanently secure the plurality of juxtaposed pleats, which comprises a pinch pleat, in the drapery panel; and means to recycle the said apparatus for the formation and securing of subsequent pinch pleats in the drapery panel.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the securing means comprises a sewing machine.
 19. A method for automatically securing a series of regularly spaced pleats along the length of a drapery panel comprising the steps of: forming a plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the drapery panel at a forming area; clamping the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats together as formed; automatically advancing the pleats a predetermined distance from the forming area to a securing area; retaining the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats in said securing area; securing the formed plurality of juxtaposed pleats in the drapery panel and repeating the previous steps along the length of the drapery panel.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein automatically advancing the pleats from the forming area to the securing area provides the regular spacing between the adjacent pluralities of juxtaposed pleats.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein securing the pleats in the drapery panel is accomplished by sewing.
 22. A method of forming a pinch pleat in drapery material comprising the steps of: clamping the drapery material to a working surface, folding a first leg of a first pleat upward adjacent the clamping location while drawing maTerial into the pleat from a direction remote from said clamping location, folding a second leg of the first pleat downward along said first leg while also drawing material into the pleat from a direction remote from said clamping location, and folding additional legs of additional pleats in a like manner.
 23. An apparatus for automatically forming and securing pleats in drapery panels which comprises an adjustable pleat former operative to take up selected widths of material in a drapery panel, a pleat securing means spaced from the pleat former, mechanism for automatically transferring the pleated portion of the drapery panel to the securing means, and means for pre-setting the apparatus to control the distance of the first and last pleats from the side edges of the drapery panel, the fullness of the pleats, and the spacings between the pleats. 